Tragic Talk: Doug Stanhope
I have finally solved the main page issues that caused me to be unable to update the page for three days so things should start moving along pretty well here now. If you're currently in Cincinnati, Ohio and looking for something to do this weekend (and I'm sure you are) then you should support our newest friend and most recent Tragic Talk Guest Doug Stanhope who is appearing at Go Bananas all weekend. His first show Saturday (8:30 PM) is already sold out so get your tickets ahead of time. Doug is probably known to people who don't know dick about comedy as the guy who co-hosted the final breath of "The Man Show" on Comedy Central with the underrated Joe Rogan. What you should know about Doug is that he is easily one of the funniest men alive, and even though my interview skills range from horrible to offensively bad throughout this interview he's also one of smartest guys who we will ever interview on this site. This introduction has gone on long enough - so without further ado I present our second installment of Tragic Talk, this time with Doug Stanhope.
TL: I have heard that you were born in Worcester, Mass. As someone who was also born in Worcester and still lives in the area I have to ask – what do you miss more, the abandoned factories or the meth?
Doug: I didnt know they got meth. I remember doing crystal references in my act playing back there in the late 90's and people looked at me like cattle. Good to see the old town is catching up.
TL: One more Worcester question – the Hanover Theatre just opened (reopened?) in Downtown, and they booked some of the most offensively unfunny comedians for the opening run. Lately I have heard word that Carlin is going to be doing a show, which means someone has got some sense over there. Will I ever be able to attend a Doug Stanhope show in Worcester?
Doug: I've been playing the last couple years at Ralph's but - like most of my gigs in rock n roll joints - you probably won't hear about em unless you're on my mailing list or Myspace. (TL Note: I sound like a douche with this question. I absolutely set myself up to get smashed on this question. To Doug's credit he didn't take the opening)
TL: I know some comedians like to stick to a specific area of the country; do you have one area that you prefer over another? Do you just like being on the road in places like Omaha, NE (April 5), and Weirton, WV (April 24th)? Or is it more a product of you avoiding the main circuit areas of the comedy club scene?
Doug: I usually work midwest and northeast in spring, as little as possible in the summer, southeast & northeast in the fall, and warm stuff in the winter. New York, LA, Texas and the UK can fall in there anywhere.
TL: Where would you rank “Irish Women are to Ugly to Rape” being turned into a newspaper headline in your career accomplishments?
Doug: That was just fantastic press manipulation by my manager Brian Hennigan. That was just a shitty mis-booking that would have been an absolute non-event if Hennigan didn't spin into some international scandal. He's a genious. And those chicks were fucking hideous still.
TL: Ok I lied about the Worcester thing because it’s all I know. Out by where I live there is a sizeable ground swell of support for Ron Paul to run for President under the Libertarian banner. As a former potential Presidential Candidate will you support Ron Paul?
Doug: I have been and continue to.
TL: I don’t want to talk too much about politics but is there a part of you rooting for Hillary Clinton to continue her “me only” policy in the Democratic Primary so that she might rip the entire party apart and open the floodgates for new people with real world ideas to fill the void? Mainly I’m just asking is it possible that you could reinvigorate your campaign leading into the Libertarian Convention in Denver this coming May?
Doug: I have no plans to do anything but to have fun at the LNC but unless the can produce an actual candidate, I'm gonna hope for Obama. Nothing is going to change on any noticeable level no matter who gets crowned King but he'd be the least annoying to watch by lengths.
TL: Moving away from politics and into your writing. You published a book about baiting in 2004. Don’t you think Stone Phillips and Dateline NBC owe you royalties?
Doug: Only if they make To Catch a Predator into a sitcom.
TL: Last one I promise. The UnBookables is a group of comedians that you tour with (I believe) that you describe as too unique to be mainstream. Isn’t there a problem when comedy has to fit into a mold like pop music in order to have an outlet?
Doug: No, actually it would help a lot if comedy could be narrowed down by genre a bit. You wouldn't go out to see music randomly without first getting some type of distinction - is it punk or bagpipes, opera or zydeco. Unfortunately, when comics have been classified, they're grouped together by monickers that have nothing to do with a type of stand-up. Black comedy, Female comics, Fat, Latino, Gay, Bad Boys, etc. As though Chris Rock and Bill Cosby were anywhere near the same flavor or would appeal to the same people.
I think we'd be far better off using the music genres of Pop, Punk, Classical, etc. It would work a lot better. Or maybe just have Amazon's system of "people who laughed at this act have also laughed at...."
Fucked if I know.
TL: If there is anything derogatory that you’d like to say about us now is the time, maybe we’ll turn it into a tee shirt and send you one someday.
Doug: Derogatory? I don't have any idea who you are. How could I possibly have anything bad to say? As for the t-shirt, save it the lonely six-month stay on the stack of promotional t-shirts in the closet and simply give it straight to the Goodwill.
Once again I want to thank Doug Stanhope for being gentle on my admittedly horrible interview skills. I will admit that I'm still very much a fanboy when it comes to talking to these guys so the fact that they don't all just wind up smashing me to bits deserves a lot of credit. A full rundown of Doug's upcoming dates is available on the front page (and the forums soon), but this weekend (March 28 - 30) he is at Go Bananas in Cincinnati, Ohio. On April 3rd he's at The Kathouse in Manhattan, Kansas, April 4th at Famous Johnny's in Overland Park, Kansas and April 5th at The Waiting Room in Omaha, Nebraska. If you want a full list of Doug's upcoming shows visit his MySpace page, or his official website and join his mailing list. One more time thanks to Doug Stanhope who proves that being from Worcester doesn't automatically make you a mush brained idiot.
TL: I have heard that you were born in Worcester, Mass. As someone who was also born in Worcester and still lives in the area I have to ask – what do you miss more, the abandoned factories or the meth?
Doug: I didnt know they got meth. I remember doing crystal references in my act playing back there in the late 90's and people looked at me like cattle. Good to see the old town is catching up.
TL: One more Worcester question – the Hanover Theatre just opened (reopened?) in Downtown, and they booked some of the most offensively unfunny comedians for the opening run. Lately I have heard word that Carlin is going to be doing a show, which means someone has got some sense over there. Will I ever be able to attend a Doug Stanhope show in Worcester?
Doug: I've been playing the last couple years at Ralph's but - like most of my gigs in rock n roll joints - you probably won't hear about em unless you're on my mailing list or Myspace. (TL Note: I sound like a douche with this question. I absolutely set myself up to get smashed on this question. To Doug's credit he didn't take the opening)
TL: I know some comedians like to stick to a specific area of the country; do you have one area that you prefer over another? Do you just like being on the road in places like Omaha, NE (April 5), and Weirton, WV (April 24th)? Or is it more a product of you avoiding the main circuit areas of the comedy club scene?
Doug: I usually work midwest and northeast in spring, as little as possible in the summer, southeast & northeast in the fall, and warm stuff in the winter. New York, LA, Texas and the UK can fall in there anywhere.
TL: Where would you rank “Irish Women are to Ugly to Rape” being turned into a newspaper headline in your career accomplishments?
Doug: That was just fantastic press manipulation by my manager Brian Hennigan. That was just a shitty mis-booking that would have been an absolute non-event if Hennigan didn't spin into some international scandal. He's a genious. And those chicks were fucking hideous still.
TL: Ok I lied about the Worcester thing because it’s all I know. Out by where I live there is a sizeable ground swell of support for Ron Paul to run for President under the Libertarian banner. As a former potential Presidential Candidate will you support Ron Paul?
Doug: I have been and continue to.
TL: I don’t want to talk too much about politics but is there a part of you rooting for Hillary Clinton to continue her “me only” policy in the Democratic Primary so that she might rip the entire party apart and open the floodgates for new people with real world ideas to fill the void? Mainly I’m just asking is it possible that you could reinvigorate your campaign leading into the Libertarian Convention in Denver this coming May?
Doug: I have no plans to do anything but to have fun at the LNC but unless the can produce an actual candidate, I'm gonna hope for Obama. Nothing is going to change on any noticeable level no matter who gets crowned King but he'd be the least annoying to watch by lengths.
TL: Moving away from politics and into your writing. You published a book about baiting in 2004. Don’t you think Stone Phillips and Dateline NBC owe you royalties?
Doug: Only if they make To Catch a Predator into a sitcom.
TL: Last one I promise. The UnBookables is a group of comedians that you tour with (I believe) that you describe as too unique to be mainstream. Isn’t there a problem when comedy has to fit into a mold like pop music in order to have an outlet?
Doug: No, actually it would help a lot if comedy could be narrowed down by genre a bit. You wouldn't go out to see music randomly without first getting some type of distinction - is it punk or bagpipes, opera or zydeco. Unfortunately, when comics have been classified, they're grouped together by monickers that have nothing to do with a type of stand-up. Black comedy, Female comics, Fat, Latino, Gay, Bad Boys, etc. As though Chris Rock and Bill Cosby were anywhere near the same flavor or would appeal to the same people.
I think we'd be far better off using the music genres of Pop, Punk, Classical, etc. It would work a lot better. Or maybe just have Amazon's system of "people who laughed at this act have also laughed at...."
Fucked if I know.
TL: If there is anything derogatory that you’d like to say about us now is the time, maybe we’ll turn it into a tee shirt and send you one someday.
Doug: Derogatory? I don't have any idea who you are. How could I possibly have anything bad to say? As for the t-shirt, save it the lonely six-month stay on the stack of promotional t-shirts in the closet and simply give it straight to the Goodwill.
Once again I want to thank Doug Stanhope for being gentle on my admittedly horrible interview skills. I will admit that I'm still very much a fanboy when it comes to talking to these guys so the fact that they don't all just wind up smashing me to bits deserves a lot of credit. A full rundown of Doug's upcoming dates is available on the front page (and the forums soon), but this weekend (March 28 - 30) he is at Go Bananas in Cincinnati, Ohio. On April 3rd he's at The Kathouse in Manhattan, Kansas, April 4th at Famous Johnny's in Overland Park, Kansas and April 5th at The Waiting Room in Omaha, Nebraska. If you want a full list of Doug's upcoming shows visit his MySpace page, or his official website and join his mailing list. One more time thanks to Doug Stanhope who proves that being from Worcester doesn't automatically make you a mush brained idiot.
good job.
Reply to this